The Lou is famous for barbecue, blues music, and Budweiser, but somehow that finger-lickin', alcohol-soaked mix doesn't translate into a great singles scene. Nearly 60% of our readers said they would rather not fly solo in St. Louis. Still, the city does have its charms. Its cultural offerings include a world-class Art Museum and a top-notch Zoo. And who needs Vegas with gambling riverboats motoring up the mighty Mississippi? Unique first date options include a tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery, complete with its trademark Clydesdale horses, or a visit to the world's largest ketchup bottle (170-feet tall). Nothing gets the locals riled up like a Cardinals or Rams game. Celebrities in St. Louis are frequently local sports heroes who retire to the VIP sections of bars and clubs on Washington Street or in Laclede's Landing near the famous Arch. Meanwhile, Mardi Gras celebrations and blues clubs in the historic Soulard neighborhood keep partygoers intoxicated until 3 A.M. On the downside, job growth is stagnant and the cost of living skews higher than you might expect. Plus, a lot of singles are moving out or getting married early, leaving the lonely, unattached to sing the blues. —Mark Hazlin

Methodology: Our overall ranking is based on the sum of the rankings within seven separate categories for the 40 biggest U.S. metros. The data used to create these rankings came from Forbes, the U.S. Census, ACCRA, Woods & Poole, AOL City Guides/Digital City, Richard Florida and Kevin Stolarick, Catalytix and Carnegie Mellon University.The first six categories are given equal weight, while the buzz factor is given less weight.

Stock quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for Nasdaq, at least 20 minutes for NYSE/AMEX.
U.S. indexes are delayed at least 15 minutes with the exception of Nasdaq, Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 which are 2 minutes delayed. Disclaimer
Forbes 40 Index powered by Telemet.
News may include latest headlines from Reuters.
Exchange trademark and copyright notices.